Friday, December 18, 2009

Stossel on ethics, politics, Ayn Rand, and TV ratings

[Response to this article]:

The right to the pursuit of happiness is “acerbic”, says a Libertarian, i.e. Anarchist, and fellow Libertarian John Stossel writes about it. I translated what was said, formulated as follows: Rand’s “Virtue of Selfishness” is acerbic.

The principle of inalienable rights is “dogmatic”, says Mr. Stossel – he said it this way: Rand is dogmatic.

Ayn Rand is in glorious company – Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson also held rights as absolute.

It is elitist to admire the Founders and the Thomas Edisons, say Libertarians. Their words: Rand “… is … elitist, cold and laser-focused on the supermen and superwomen of the world.”

The Founders and the Thomas Edisons EARNED the veneration of Ayn Rand and her kind. Justice demands that the virtuous be extolled.

Pander to moochers in order to sell capitalism, say Libertarians. The defense of self-interest and rights is not good for TV ratings, they claim. They are like the publishers who rejected The Fountainhead, believing no audience existed for it.

Ayn Rand appeals to thinkers, to individuals who respect themselves, to freedom fighters. The endurance of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged is proof that they exist in great numbers.

2 comments:

Ilyn Ross said...

See the comment of Henry Solomon -

https://www.facebook.com/JohnStossel/posts/172470859490147

Ilyn Ross said...

Henry Solomon: "I was very disappointed that someone of the character of Larry Flint would be allowed to comment on the character of Thomas Jefferson, and to state that he fathered six children by Sally Hemmings. There is no proof of this, and the only point of this kind of character assasination is to expose a great man as having "clay feet." For further analysis see this site: http://www.ashbrook.org/articles/mayer-hemings.html#V The kind of commentary offered by Larry Flint calls into question the validity of all the commentary on the progam."

http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2011/07/22/one-nation-under-sex-politically-incorrect-history-airs-saturday-fnc-3pm-et